Staff Development Approach: Providing for Children with Special Problems.

Foran, Mary Ellen; And Others

Reported are the results of a project which focused on staff development in five elementary schools to improve services to children with special problems. Focused on are the efforts of the five principals to develop, implement, and evaluate the staff development approach. Chapters are given to the following aspects: characteristics of the participating schools; delineation and conceptualization of the project; development and results of a questionnaire to problems encountered by classroom teachers; development of a referral form and a staffing procedure; availability of appropriate resources at the local, district, and community levels; evaluation of satisfaction expressed by administrators and teachers with the implementation of recommendations; evaluation of the satisfaction of teachers and administrators with the results of the total project; results of the administrators' evaluation of the staff development project; teachers' opinions about the potential value of the project; and a project summary. It is noted that practitioners were generally satisfied with the development of the design and implementation of the staffing model, with the development of an esprit de corps among staff members and with the opportunity to share professional experiences. (DB)